Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Post Its in the Tub



Post It Notes are one of the great inventions of our time. I'm sure you know the story about how they're the result of innovative thinking - something 3M corporation encourages - but it's worth reading this account at The Rake to learn details.

Well, like many people, I have an abiding love of Post It Notes. I didn't realize they were so recent - introduced in 1980. They've always been fixtures in my office life.

Tonight I was taking a long bath - bathing is one of my hobbies - and I took a pad of post its into the tub with me. I do a lot of thinking in the tub. And tonight I wanted to think about the novel I'm working on and how to arrange the events into consecutive chapters. I've been writing it as vignettes and I want to combine them in a logical fashion.

So, I started jotting down each event on a post it and then trying different ways to combine them. Lo and behold, right there beside me was the perfect spot to work on - the tiled wall beside the tub.

They got a little wet when I washed my hair, but they dried and are all still hanging tight onto the wall. I want to sleep on it, so I'm just leaving them there for the moment. I guess this would fall into the category of things you can do when you live alone.


2 comments:

Jane said...

Oh my, this made me laugh - I just think thats so waonderful :) What a great idea! I do a lot of thinking in the tub too and normally have a little notebook by the side.

Patsy Terrell said...

I'm glad it gave you a chuckle. :) I keep pens and paper and magazines by the tub - one of my fave places to read and think and write. But I needed post its last night for rearranging. :) They're still hanging tight to the wall. :)